Tuesday, 20 September 2016
At Sea — the Mediterranean
Temps: 76F (24C) / 66F (19C) (in Villefranche)
The famed Côté D’Azur did not disappoint … and we didn’t have to go far to enjoy it. Villefranche-Sur-Mer [Villefranche by the Sea] gave us a taste that was probably more our style than a day in Nice or Monaco would have been … at least for this first-time visit to the French Riviera.
In line with this being an R&R cruise, we once again didn’t set our alarm overnight. It was 7:30a when we rolled out of bed to find Silhouette already at anchor in the bay … tenders being dropped down from their davits to take visitors ashore. No wind … no waves … lots of sunshine. We headed up to breakfast, this time dining on the open deck aft of the Oceanview Café.
It was 9:45a when we finally left the cabin and headed to the Ensemble Lounge on deck 5 aft to meet up with Rossy. As concierge and elite passengers, we have priority tendering privileges. Rossy had left a message last night for us to check in with her at the lounge whenever we were ready to go ashore and she would escort us down to the appropriate tender queue. Somehow we got separated on the way down and ended up with the suite passengers — no matter, that just meant we were one tender ahead of the one we should have been on.
From the tender heading to shore … see ya later Silhouette!
Our tender weaves its way through the boats anchored in the harbor, …
… giving us a glimpse of La Citadelle, which we plan to visit …
… once we disembark at the tender pier in the heart of the city.
Hello Villefranche!
Once ashore, we picked up a map from the information desk inside the small terminal. We would have set off to explore Villefranche immediately, but I was distracted by mural-like panels in the terminal designed to whet the appetite of visitors to explore all that the coast of France has to offer.
What is there to explore around here? A lot apparently!
Our first stop in town would have been the beautiful Chapelle Saint-Pierre [Chapel of St Peter]. I was especially looking forward to seeing the beautiful Cocteau murals inside the chapel, which he brought back to life in the late 1950s. Despite the sign indicating the building should be open, it was locked up tight. So we had to make do with just seeing the façade, which was also decorated by Jean Cocteau.
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Hard to believe that this beautiful chapel, located on the waterfront, was once used
to store fishing nets. If not for Cocteau, it might have continued to be used as such.
Since we were unable to go inside the chapel, we walked through the small market nearby and followed the signs to Église Saint Michel [Church of St Michael] instead. There was no way to photograph the exterior of the the 18th century Baroque style church, but the door was open, so we went inside to check it out.
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Saint Roch (left) is said to be the patron saint of dogs and falsely accused people.
Following a narrow alley lined with colorful buildings, we next headed to Citadelle Saint-Elme to explore the fortress. The bonus along the way was lovely views of the city.
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Left: Looking down the alley reveals a distant view of the bell tower of St Michael’s church.
Right: The best glimpse of Église Saint Michel is from near the Saint Elme Citadel.
I messed up the panorama … but the important part of it — the fantastic view — is intact.
The 16th century fortress was built to protect Nice from invaders. Today it is home to the city hall and four museums … all free admission. We meandered around the fortress and checked out the museums. But we didn’t dally long in the latter as none offered any signage in English.
Let’s go check out La Citadelle.
From the grounds of the fortress we catch a glimpse of our ship.
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Left: one of the guard towers as seen from the grounds …
Center: … where we come across some surprise pieces of art …
Right: ... and a view of Port Royal de la Darse through one of the windows.
A small fragment of a mural inside Chapelle Saint-Elme on the fortress grounds.
The figurines from the Roux Collection at one of the museums represent scenes
from the daily lives of the men and women of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
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Sculptures from the Musee Volti in the Bastion de la Turbie.
By the time we left the fortress it was noon, so we headed back into the city center to look for a place to have lunch. My research matched Rossy’s recommendation: skip the overpriced eateries on the waterfront and opt for one of the many on the backstreets. That’s what we did — settling on Côté Jardin [Garden Side] overlooking Place de la Republique. It was a charming little place, surrounded by potted plants separating it from the street. Terrace seating … a good meal … perfect. Mui opted for the grilled sardines; I ordered the spaghetti au salmon. We shared a most delicious chocolate lava cake.
What a perfect place for an al fresco lunch.
Mui is obviously enjoying his lunch of grilled sardines!
Sated, we continued our exploration of the town, meandering along deserted narrow streets. This time we headed towards the far side of Villefranche.
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Eventually we arrived at the Plage des Marinières [Mariners Beach] so Mui could take a dip in the Med. There was no shade on the public beach. Lucky for me, one of the benches on the promenade happened to be under a tree that offered just enough cover from the sun. Pulling out my iPad. I turned to one of my e-books while Mui swam. He said the water was cold at first, but once he was in he had a refreshing swim — the salt adding quite a bit of buoyancy.
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The coarse sand beach, open to the public, is the longest in the area … about 1 km long.
Bad light for photography … but need proof Mui did indeed do more
than wade in the shallows along the water’s edge.
After Mui’s swim, we made our way back to the tender pier to return to the ship … no waiting, but this time we had to sit in the main cabin as the open deck on top was full. We were back on the ship around 3:30p — plenty of time to clean up before heading to the Sky Lounge for cocktails. Janelle and Don joined us and we had a nice chat and enjoyed Captain Kafetzis’ “donut maneuver” together.
Adieu Villefranche!
We have one more port in France before we head back to Italian waters … but we’re leaving mainland Europe behind to visit this one.
Next Stop: Ajaccio, Corsica … 138 nautical miles from Villefranche.
One church outside, one church inside. What a lovely view and I do love those colorful narrow streets. I did have to go look at google maps to see where you were in relation to the Promenade des Anglais, and compared the timing. It is all about the timing I guess. Did you find the people to be welcoming and friendly even if you didn't speak French? You know how the rumors are about visiting France.
ReplyDeleteSue ... welcoming and friendly ... it depended. The restaurant in both Villefranche and Marseille were welcoming, with the owners speaking a little English. The woman at the tender pier, likewise. In other places in both cities, we found people did not speak or understand English. On purpose or not ... no idea. So, I'd say from our experience that the rumors held true for the most part. Regardless, we were courteous and bid everyone good day in our broken French.
ReplyDeleteI have found that if one makes the effort to speak French, they are friendly. Their attitude seems to be why should we have to learn your language if you are visiting us? If they visit the US, we expect them to speak English. I think you made a wise decision to NOT go to Nice. Your day was certainly full and very French. As always I enjoyed the photos and narrative.Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place! I love the towns built on a hill like this. It gives those of us sharing your photos a great look at the entire area.
ReplyDeleteWhat a colorful spot to visit. Nice to get a swim in, and also enjoy the sights. A quiet visit, I'd say, just right for some of us, eh?
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